CFP® Exam Breakdown
Financial Planning Areas
| Category | Low | Mid | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fundamental Financial Planning Practices | 8% | 13% | 18% |
| Financial Management | 9% | 14% | 19% |
| Investment Planning | 9% | 14% | 19% |
| Insurance and Risk Management | 8% | 13% | 18% |
| Tax Planning | 9% | 14% | 19% |
| Retirement Planning | 9% | 14% | 19% |
| Estate Planning and Legal Aspects | 12% | 17% | 22% |
| Total | 100% |
Question Type Breakdown
Multiple Choice Questions – 20 to 30%
Constructed Response Questions – 70% to 80%
Financial Planning Functions
- Collection: gathering the client’s information
-
- Gathering both quantitative and qualitative information
- Identifying relevant facts and documentation
- Preparing and organizing information in a way that allows for appropriate analysis
- Analysis: assesses the client’s situation and identifies and evaluates appropriate strategies
-
- Identifying issues and opportunities
- Performing required calculations
- Developing projections
- Preparing and assessing the resulting information to identify and evaluate appropriate strategies
Recommendation: develops recommendations to help optimize the client’s situation
-
- Developing recommendations, in order of priority, that help meet the client’s personal goals, needs and priorities
| Category | Low | Mid | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collection | |||
| Fundamental financial planning practices collection | 1% | 4% | 7% |
| Gathers and prepares quantitative information | 7% | 12% | 17% |
| Gathers qualitative information | 6% | 11% | 16% |
| Analysis | |||
| Fundamental financial planning practices analysis | 3% | 6% | 9% |
| Assesses the client’s situation | 13% | 18% | 23% |
| Considers and evaluates strategies | 21% | 26% | 31% |
| Recommendations | |||
| Fundamental financial planning practices recommendations | 2% | 4% | 6% |
| Develops recommendations to help optimize the client’s situation | 14% | 19% | 24% |
| Total | 100% |
Level of Complexity
Increases as the difficulty of the situation and information to process increases and the number of variables to consider and the need to integrate variables increases
Basic
- Application of knowledge to various facets of financial planning to simple financial planning situations
- May require basic calculations
- Evaluation across single or small number of topics
- Making simple recommendations
Moderate
- Application of knowledge in avg financial planning situations with multiple variables
- Requires processing of a number of elements to identify a solution or formulate a recommendation
- May require multi-step calculations and the assessment and integration of multiple variables and interrelated factors
High
- Application of advanced knowledge of complex financial planning situations
- Involves multiple variables and considerable integration to analyze situations and form recommendations
| Category | Low | Mid | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 4% | 9% | 14% |
| Moderate | 35% | 40% | 45% |
| High | 46% | 50% | 56% |
| Total | 100% |